‘New Frontiers’ plan sets the tone for post-Brexit Cornwall

Greater
local control in a post-Brexit Britain should gain
increasing importance according to a new devolution plan for Cornwall.

As the UK prepares to leave the European Union, the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
Leadership Board 1 has created the New
Frontiers plan to support a local economy that
works for everyone by building global industries, growing skills and wages and protecting
our heritage and environment.

New Frontiers has the potential to
increase the region’s contribution into the UK economy by £2 billion and to support the delivery of at least 20,000 additional jobs by 2030.

If supported by central government, this ambitious plan will make
Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly the world’s first ‘net extractor’ of marine plastics, making sure less
plastic enters the sea and that more is extracted. It will also boost our renewable energy,
creative and digital technologies, space technology and lithium mining industries.
Lithium is the raw material used in, amongst other things Tesla car batteries

Leader of Cornwall
Council and Chair of the Leadership Board for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly,
Adam Paynter, said: “We believe the New Frontiers plan could transform
not just our regional economy but also the future prosperity of the country as
a whole, issues that we know are important to people locally because you’ve
told us.

“The Leadership Board of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly is
united in our ambition to persuade government of the importance of matching our
ambitious plans with the resources and powers necessary to make them a reality.
The plan also outlines how we can close the gap between our economy and the UK
average.”

As the first and only non-metropolitan area with an existing devolution
deal, Cornwall has been a trailblazer for how devolved powers and funding can
unleash a rural region’s potential.

Since 2015 Cornwall has used devolved powers to deliver real benefits
for the economy and the people of Cornwall including:

levering £17
million private investment into our bus network, allowing an extra 700,000 journeys
to travel by bus with the Cornish equivalent of London’s Oyster card

levering £7.5
million private investment over three years into our Warm and Well programme,
where we are making the homes of 1,300 vulnerable households in Cornwall
cheaper to heat every year

investing in
new energy technologies such as deep geothermal that could provide electricity
for thousands of homes if successful.

Councillor
Paynter added: “Some people might argue that this second, more
ambitious deal is a distraction when the country is at a major crossroads
negotiating its future relationship with Europe. However, we believe is
precisely the time to discuss
opportunities - the moment when this country is exploring new trading
opportunities and considering how new legislation will be developed.”

View the New Frontiers plan being submitted
to government ministers this week here